tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86305065529968871832017-08-18T03:54:50.910+02:00Copernicus FilmsA film production company founded by Michael Craig and based in Moscow and London Michael Craignoreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-57271906916361295442017-05-23T22:41:00.000+02:002017-05-23T22:48:01.894+02:00The Fairground Booth book and film - News and progress<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WTI0KmwLfdI/WSSdSohVjlI/AAAAAAAANuU/HT6QGidjZLMNePH5las4SREZ_xwXb5f3wCEw/s1600/fairground%2BBooth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WTI0KmwLfdI/WSSdSohVjlI/AAAAAAAANuU/HT6QGidjZLMNePH5las4SREZ_xwXb5f3wCEw/s640/fairground%2BBooth.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">The last chapter of the first draft of <a href="http://www.thefairgroundbooth.com/" target="_blank">The Fairground Booth</a> is now being completed which will be the basis of the book. Why is this important. It is important becuase once the book is finsished and published a script will be adapted to make a film about Blok Meyerhold and The play "The Fairground Booth" This film is actually being edited already even though all the material has not been shot and the script is only part finished. Having said that, good progress has been made on this project and both the film and the book will make a significant contributiuon to <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QN-Nd" target="_blank">The Russian Theatre Film Series</a>.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">This series consists of 3 films: <a href="http://www.meyerholdfilm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Meyerhold Theatre and the Russian Avant-garde</a>, <a href="http://www.stanislavskyfilm.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank">Stanislavsky and the Russian Avant-garde</a> and <a href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank">Vakhtangov and the Russian Avant-garde</a>&nbsp;Also included in the series is the book <a href="http://www.createspace.com/7063361" target="_blank">Michael Craig and the Russian Theatre Film Series</a>&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;bitstream charter&quot; , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">I have decided to use the <a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank">Copernicus Films</a> site now as the main hub of all the material connected with my work. I have been using a blog (which I will continue to maintain) but this will be the centre where everything gets published and all the news is distributed and all the other sites I have will connect to this site. anything published on another site will end up here.</span></span></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-91628767036835972442017-05-02T11:13:00.000+02:002017-05-02T11:13:12.186+02:00Michael Craig - Books<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h2><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Journey to Ogasawara</span></h2><div><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4ASEHQFQOW8/WQhJosJ1pPI/AAAAAAAANpE/wz7uEz2pPvwaO3KCZ1xMEb5CguZ5RdGHQCLcB/s1600/4136ZwbY%252B2L._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4ASEHQFQOW8/WQhJosJ1pPI/AAAAAAAANpE/wz7uEz2pPvwaO3KCZ1xMEb5CguZ5RdGHQCLcB/s200/4136ZwbY%252B2L._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In September 2005 we traveled&nbsp;from Moscow to Japan to make a film about the Russian futurist, poet and artist, David Burliuk, also known as the Father of Russian Futurism. The film was one of a six part series about the Russian Avant-garde. The visit involved a journey to Ogasawara for several days. This book is an account of our voyage to this island in the Pacific Ocean.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Purchase on&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Ogasawara-Michael-Craig/dp/1456529811/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1493715265&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Journey+to+ogasawara" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Amazon</span></a></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><h2><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Encounters with the Russian Avant-garde</span></span></h2><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9dxJ65u6Hm8/WQhJhCdWErI/AAAAAAAANpA/jUKGefepnlI0I0RndflvZBY2uZj5MwDkwCLcB/s1600/Book-encounters.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9dxJ65u6Hm8/WQhJhCdWErI/AAAAAAAANpA/jUKGefepnlI0I0RndflvZBY2uZj5MwDkwCLcB/s200/Book-encounters.gif" width="133" /></a></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Encounters-Russian-Avant-garde-Michael-Craig/dp/1492762210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1493715451&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Encounters+with+the+russian+avant-garde" target="_blank">Encounters with the Russian Avant-garde</a>&nbsp;complements the series of six films made by Michael Craig and Copernicus Films about the Russian Avant-garde of the 1920s and 30s. Fully illustrated including stills from most of the films, it is not only an account or explanation but also an introduction or to be more specific an "encounter" with this exciting phenomenon. The title reflects an active relationship: firstly through the experience of living in Moscow for many years, plus a direct encounter with the buildings, the architecture and the very territory in which much of the avant-garde arose and to some extent still exists.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Purchase on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Encounters-Russian-Avant-garde-Michael-Craig/dp/1492762210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1493715451&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Encounters+with+the+russian+avant-garde" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Amazon</span></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><h2><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Russian Theatre Film Series</span></span></h2><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwMdlnfqOpA/WQhMHqHui_I/AAAAAAAANpc/8LtfOwnwJzg8TS50C64AAFjg1_bpQ7pEACLcB/s1600/Book-Cover-Theatre-copy-10-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwMdlnfqOpA/WQhMHqHui_I/AAAAAAAANpc/8LtfOwnwJzg8TS50C64AAFjg1_bpQ7pEACLcB/s200/Book-Cover-Theatre-copy-10-.jpg" width="127" /></a></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Russian Theatre Film Series is an account of this arts documentary series with all its pitfalls, successes, limitations and achievements. The three films which have so far been completed are "Meyerhold, Theatre and the Russian Avant-garde", "Stanislavsky and the Russian Theatre" and "Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre". This book is part of the overall project - The Russian Theatre Film Series and is a milestone and a marker in this developing project. It is also a commentary on what it means to make an independent arts documentary film series in a foreign country namely Russia.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Purchase on&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Theatre-Film-Michael-Craig/dp/1545152535/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1493715949&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=The+russian+Theatre+film+series" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Amazon</span></a></div></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-62102962483176523592017-04-30T12:12:00.001+02:002017-04-30T12:12:35.190+02:00Tokyo Journey and Closed Captions on Amazon Video Direct<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">The short film Tokyo Journey is now available for download on Amazon Video Direct. View the clip <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJRt47Ccqvc" target="_blank">here</a>. Download it <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Journey-Leona/dp/B072553WVF/ref=sr_1_1?s=instant-video&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1493546518&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Tokyo+Journey" target="_blank">here</a>. In due course a DVD will be available&nbsp;as well. Before it could become available on Amazon Video Direct it was necessary&nbsp;to provide Closed Captioning even though there is no dialogue in the film.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KJRt47Ccqvc" width="560"></iframe><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Closed captions is something that defeated me in getting my films ready and published on Amazon Video Direct. I use an Amazon company called<a href="http://www.createspace.com/" target="_blank"> Create Space</a> to market my films on DVD and the Internet. Now DVDs are becoming more difficult to sell on the internet and downloaded films are becoming more important. In 2016 all my films (<a href="http://www.therussianavantgarde.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">all eight of them</a>) were migrated to The <a href="https://www.google.ru/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiz-8Dx98vTAhVEPhQKHfweCk4QFggxMAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fvideodirect.amazon.com%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNGN5U-p7naXv8kn95IPAMMpQRFBjA&amp;sig2=QOhGCMmdsRMjPqzzvTcWfA" target="_blank">Amazon Direct Video</a> Service so that they could only be downloaded and sold directly through Amazon. The criteria for publishing is quite specific and somewhat strict. One of the criteria are closed captions for the those whose hearing is impaired or are deaf. Closed captions are like sub titles.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span> <b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.google.ru/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=2&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;sqi=2&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjK0Yyz9cvTAhUoG5oKHRg5BUgQFghQMAE&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FClosed_captioning&amp;usg=AFQjCNG6k2eP9O_thBnS_k7KvmQ_362opg&amp;sig2=YAvWkjBvfPkw3HEegHCDDg" target="_blank">Closed captioning</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;">&nbsp;(</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;">CC</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif;">)</span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> and&nbsp;</span>subtitling<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">&nbsp;are both processes of displaying&nbsp;</span>text<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">&nbsp;on a&nbsp;</span>television<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">,&nbsp;</span>video<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">&nbsp;</span>screen<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">, or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information. Both are typically used as a&nbsp;</span>transcription<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">&nbsp;of the&nbsp;</span>audio<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">&nbsp;portion of a&nbsp;</span>program<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">&nbsp;as it occurs (either&nbsp;</span>verbatim<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">&nbsp;or in edited form), sometimes including descriptions of non-speech elements.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">This can be quite tricky but there is a way of doing it which can minimise the pain. Most non linear video editing programmed&nbsp;have a closed&nbsp;captioning facility. Go into the closed captioning facility and add the captions according to where the dialogue&nbsp;or text is located in the film. Once you have finished you render your film to which ever format you want and then save and export a<b> <a href="http://srt./">srt.</a></b><a href="https://www.google.ru/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=14&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiDl7eb9cvTAhUhYpoKHUlWDlYQFghnMA0&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSubRip&amp;usg=AFQjCNHlY0RSVrXDnz4Bm-y6qdRsrRqueg&amp;sig2=lwuAxlEPkmFxVW4j9T1Efg" target="_blank"> file</a> which stored the textual data which can be used and matched by amazon when it is upload to your dashboard on Amazon Video Direct.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">The editing programme I use is <a href="https://www.google.ru/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjBkNfJ9cvTAhXOa5oKHRjSA7UQFggwMAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vegascreativesoftware.com%2Fus%2Fvegas-pro%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNHQ3DhmcqVRFX19Iwealq677jX3nw&amp;sig2=o5RYa_CIEy2B4iaMCGZ6Mg" target="_blank">Vegas Video Pro</a>. The process is as follows. Find the point in the timeline you wish to insert text into. Click on&nbsp;<i>Insert</i> and then <i>command</i> and the menu comes up. In the command&nbsp;box chose <i>608CC1.</i> Then type your text in the <i>comment box</i> and press OK. Then repeat for all the other text you wish to insert as a closed caption. Rememeber also to change the Timecode format to Time and Frames.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">To export the srt. film click on <i>tools</i>, <i>scripting</i> and chose <i>export closed&nbsp;captioning for Youtube</i> option</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">The process is different for Adobe Premier and other programmes but the priciples are similar.</span></span></span></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-52996804753348860642017-04-17T09:43:00.002+02:002017-04-17T10:17:03.603+02:00The Russian Theatre Film Series - New book publication<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ohck7003SEY/WPRvVaN00hI/AAAAAAAANhw/S0hko05Jz2gQntC9zd35Xqn9lceFpZyUwCLcB/s1600/Cover%2BTheatre%2Bbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ohck7003SEY/WPRvVaN00hI/AAAAAAAANhw/S0hko05Jz2gQntC9zd35Xqn9lceFpZyUwCLcB/s320/Cover%2BTheatre%2Bbook.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-badd1f62-7af9-f013-66ae-2f0c230efc2f"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This post first appeared on my blog but it is worth repeating to reach a different audience here. This book is the third by Michael Craig. The first being </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Ogasawara-Michael-Craig/dp/1456529811/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1492414865&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Journey+to+ogasawara" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Journey to Ogasawara</span></a><span style="color: #666666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which was an account of the making of the film </span><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/David-Burliuk-Japanese-Avant-garde-version/dp/B000TFHKTK/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1492414556&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=David+Burliuk" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David Burliuk and the Japanese Avant-garde</span></a><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Encounters-Russian-Avant-garde-Michael-Craig/dp/1492762210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1492414468&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=encounters+with+the+russian+avant-garde" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Encounters with the Russian Avant-garde</span></a><span style="color: #666666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.It’s difficult to find an appropriate description of the book </span><a href="http://www.russiantheatrefilmseries.copernicusfilms.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Russian Theatre Film Series</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span></a><span style="color: #666666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Essentially it is an account of an arts documentary series with all its pitfalls, successes, limitations and achievements. The three films which have so far been completed are </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><a href="http://www.meyerholdfilm.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meyerhold, Theatre and the Russian Avant-garde</span></a><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">", "</span><a href="http://www.stanislavskyfilm.copernicusfilms.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stanislavsky and the Russian Theatre</span></a><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" and "</span><a href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre</span></a><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This book is part of the overall project - The Russian Theatre Film Series and is a milestone and a marker in this developing project</span></span></div></div><span style="color: #666666;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: medium;">Also it is a commentary on what it means to make an independent arts documentary film series in a foreign country namely Russia. Not so much from the technical point of view although there is plenty of technical aspects covered but more from the point of view of a kind of interior process. It is an expedition into the phenomenology of film-making, what obstacles have to be overcome, both physical and technically but more importantly some of the lived experience of film-making. For some people making independent films is a way of life in the same way that for others theatre is a way of life or acting is a way of life or painting or whatever is a way of life. You can't live without it or outside it. The fact that you have to spend a year or two of your life on each film means that it is a life decision. So it has an existential element and this quality of film-making is explored in the book. How the series came about, what were the thought processes involved in the development of the series, which influenced the series overall - who helped who didn't, why things went wrong and why they went right. The book is a staging post on the way to further developments clearing the ground before moving forward to the next phase - a book about&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thefairgroundbooth.com/" style="color: #ce2727; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">The Fairground Booth</a>&nbsp;plus a film on this subject.</span></span></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-42468841467840453322015-12-10T22:29:00.000+02:002017-03-31T17:25:31.560+02:00Publication of "Encounters with the Russian Avant-garde"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6xnVrmBoTa4/VmngNzc7zqI/AAAAAAAAL0Y/GUy0OMYjmwg/s1600/Book-encounters.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6xnVrmBoTa4/VmngNzc7zqI/AAAAAAAAL0Y/GUy0OMYjmwg/s320/Book-encounters.gif" width="213" /></a></div><br style="line-height: 1.5;" /><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">Finally we can announce the publication of the book <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Encounters-Russian-Avant-garde-Michael-Craig/dp/1492762210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1449320531&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=encounters+with+the+russian+avant-garde" href="http://www.amazon.com/Encounters-Russian-Avant-garde-Michael-Craig/dp/1492762210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1449320531&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=encounters+with+the+russian+avant-garde" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;">Encounters with the Russian Avant-garde&nbsp;</a>which is now available on Amazon for purchase or download.&nbsp;Encounters with the Russian Avant-garde complements the series of six films made by Michael Craig and Copernicus Films about the&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.russianavantgarde.copernicusfilms.com" href="http://www.russianavantgarde.copernicusfilms.com/" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Russian Avant-garde of the 1920s and 30s</a>. It is not only an account or explanation but also an introduction or to be more specific an "encounter" with this exciting phenomenon. The title reflects an active relationship: firstly through the experience of living in Moscow for many years, plus a direct encounter with the buildings, the architecture and the very territory in which much of the avant-garde arose and to some extent still exists. Encounter suggests something more casual, unexpected and unstructured but also a sense of living in the avant-garde and being part of it. After all it was the intention of the Russian Avant-garde to connect with the real lived world and to ‘take art out of the galleries and onto the streets and squares of Moscow'</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/prZDaZwV6q0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <p>As always when a large project gets finished there is the inevitable feeling of disappointment and wanting to fill that vacuum with another book or project or a film. There is plenty to do and plenty to be getting on with and really I should not rest on my laurels. However it will take a bit of time to change gears and shift into another project.</div></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-46549902982200629662015-08-01T12:16:00.000+02:002015-08-01T12:22:23.033+02:00Copernicus Films, Michael Craig and The Fairground Booth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Y3qntBbVkM/VbyWxyBZ0ZI/AAAAAAAALEQ/kMfBuJv1bps/s1600/fairground%2BBooth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Y3qntBbVkM/VbyWxyBZ0ZI/AAAAAAAALEQ/kMfBuJv1bps/s640/fairground%2BBooth.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">Since Copernicus Films finished<a data-mce-href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com" href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;">&nbsp;Vakhtangov and the&nbsp;Russian Theatre</a>&nbsp;development has been going ahead on the next part of the&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.russiantheatrefilmseries.copernicusfilms.com" href="http://www.russiantheatrefilmseries.copernicusfilms.com/" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;">Russian Theatre Documentary Film series</a>. A script for a new documentary about Blok and Meyerhold's The Fairground Booth is in a process of writing and rewriting. As well as this film work is taking place with regard to a film version of the play itself. The set design has been ascertained and is being painstakingly designed. This is a big question and will require&nbsp;a great deal&nbsp;of attention but at least the process is underway. The next big question will be the costumes - the design and the over all look as well as how to find the actors who will play the various roles. its a long process and cannot be rushed. There are various other ancillary elements to this series which are also being developed in parallel to the project and hopefully will make up a significant component of The Russian Theatre documentary Film Series but all the work being done in this are is in its early stages. Therefore it seems premature to make any announcements.&nbsp;</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">Its worth saying that this series will be made up of five films (possibly more with time - discussions are ongoing with interested parties). The films will include&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.meyerholdfilm.blogspot.com" href="http://www.meyerholdfilm.blogspot.com/" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;">Meyerhold Theatre and the Russian Avant-garde</a>,&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.stanislavskyfilm.copernicusfilms.com" href="http://www.stanislavskyfilm.copernicusfilms.com/" style="color: #ff4b33; line-height: 1.5;">Stanislavsky and the Russian Theatre</a>,&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com" href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre&nbsp;</a>(all three of which have been completed and released) plus Meyerhold, Blok and The Fairground Booth(documentary) &nbsp;and The Fairground Booth (film). announcements will be made as each stage of the project progresses. For fuller and more regular updates check <a href="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank">Michael Craig's blog</a> or <a href="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/category/the-fairground-booth/" target="_blank">here</a> for more specific updates and related information.</div></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-41573023533645834792015-05-07T23:00:00.000+02:002016-01-08T13:15:45.195+02:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h2 class="entry-title" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/vakhtangovstudyday/" rel="bookmark" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Permalink to Vakhtangov Study Day – Rose Bruford College">Vakhtangov Study Day – Rose Bruford College</a></h2><div class="entry-meta" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="meta-prep meta-prep-author" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted on</span>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/vakhtangovstudyday/" rel="bookmark" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #888888; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="11:25 am"><span class="entry-date" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">March 9, 2015</span></a>&nbsp;<span class="meta-sep" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">by</span>&nbsp;<span class="author vcard" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="url fn n" href="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/author/michaelcraig/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #888888; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="View all posts by michaelcraig">michaelcraig</a></span></div><div class="entry-content" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 12px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="alignnone" height="126" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Zs4I3lHf1hyH-1RsBh0Vr9zQuwmdbgYm3NM_kxEV0T8=w889-h178" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="629" /></h1><div class="entry-content" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 12px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h2 style="background: transparent; border: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Vakhtangov Study Day at the &nbsp;Rose Bruford College – Film. Hosted by The Stanislavski Centre.</h2><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Guest Speaker&nbsp;<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Andrei Maleav Babel</strong>&nbsp;with the participation of&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Graham Dixon&nbsp;</strong></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Vakhtangov Study day which took place in 2014 took place at the Rose Bruford College of Theatre and performance organised by The Stanislavski Centre with guest speaker Andrei Malaev-Babel, and Graham Dixon. The film Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre was also premiered at the event.</div><div class="post-436 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-moscow category-russia-2 category-russian-theatre category-theatre category-vakhtangov-and-the-russian-theatre category-vakhtangov-post-production-updates tag-russian-theatre-2 tag-theatre tag-vakhtangov-2 tag-vakhtangov-and-the-russian-theatre-2" id="post-436" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 48px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uAkb6tS6v8g" style="background: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Books by Andrei Maleav-Babel about Vakhtangov:</em></strong></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vakhtangov-Sourcebook-Andrei-Malaev-Babel/dp/0415482577/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425637217&amp;sr=1-1-fkmr0&amp;keywords=andrei+maleav+babel" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="Babel" class="alignleft wp-image-654" src="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Babel-191x300.jpg" height="236" style="background: transparent; border: none; display: inline; float: left; margin: 4px 24px 12px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="150" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vakhtangov-Sourcebook-Andrei-Malaev-Babel/dp/0415482577/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425637217&amp;sr=1-1-fkmr0&amp;keywords=andrei+maleav+babel" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Vahktangov Sourcebook</a>&nbsp;is a rich and extensive source of information and analysis of the central&nbsp;principles of Vakhtangov’s&nbsp;&nbsp;work and compiles new translations of his key writings on the art of theatre, making it the primary source of first hand material on this master of theatre in the English speaking world. For more information click on this&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vakhtangov-Sourcebook-Andrei-Malaev-Babel/dp/0415482577/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425637217&amp;sr=1-1-fkmr0&amp;keywords=andrei+maleav+babel" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">link</a>&nbsp;or click on the thumbnail.</div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Yevgeny-Vakhtangov-Critical-Andrei-Malaev-Babel/dp/0415465869/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425637217&amp;sr=1-2-fkmr0&amp;keywords=andrei+maleav+babel" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="download" class="alignleft wp-image-655" src="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/download-192x300.jpg" height="233" style="background: transparent; border: none; display: inline; float: left; margin: 4px 24px 12px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="149" /></a>Ranging from Moscow to Israel, from Fantastic Realism to Vakhtangov’s futuristic projection, the theatre of the ‘Eternal Mask’,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Yevgeny-Vakhtangov-Critical-Andrei-Malaev-Babel/dp/0415465869/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425637217&amp;sr=1-2-fkmr0&amp;keywords=andrei+maleav+babel" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yevgeny Vakhtangov: A Critical Portrait</em>:</a></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For more information click on this&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Yevgeny-Vakhtangov-Critical-Andrei-Malaev-Babel/dp/0415465869/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425637217&amp;sr=1-2-fkmr0&amp;keywords=andrei+maleav+babel" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">link</a>&nbsp;or click on the thumbnail.</div><ul style="background: transparent; border: 0px; list-style: square; margin: 0px 0px 24px 1.5em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">considers his input as one of the original teachers of Stanislavsky’s system, and the complex relationship shared by the two men;</li><li style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">reflects on his directorship of the First Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre and the Habima (which was later to become Israel’s National Theatre) as well as the Vakhtangov Studio, the institution he established;</li><li style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">examines in detail his three final directorial masterpieces,&nbsp;<em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Erick XIV</em>,&nbsp;<em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Dybbuk</em>and&nbsp;<em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Princess Turandot</em>.</li></ul><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">&nbsp;Graham Dixon and the Michael Chekhov Studio London:</em></strong></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.michaelchekhovstudio.org.uk/MCSL/Home.html" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Man Image.tif i Copy Copy Copy" class="alignleft wp-image-659" src="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Man-Image.tif-i-Copy-Copy-Copy.jpg" height="184" style="background: transparent; border: none; display: inline; float: left; margin: 4px 24px 12px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="134" /></a><a href="http://www.michaelchekhovstudio.org.uk%20/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">The Chekhov Studio</a></em><a href="http://www.michaelchekhovstudio.org.uk%20/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">.</a>&nbsp;Graham Dixon &nbsp;started the Michael Chekhov Studio in 2003 as a means to give actors and directors living in London an opportunity to access and explore Michael Chekhov’s unique approach to the art of acting. Click on the thumbnail or the link above for more information about his work.</div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Stanislavski Centre.</strong></em></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/stanislavski-portrait.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="stanislavski-portrait" class="alignleft wp-image-662" src="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/stanislavski-portrait.png" height="197" style="background: transparent; border: none; display: inline; float: left; margin: 4px 24px 12px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="137" /></a><a href="http://theatrefutures.org.uk/stanislavski-centre/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Stanislavski Centre</a>&nbsp;.&nbsp;<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Stanislavski Centre</strong>&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bruford.ac.uk/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Rose Bruford College">Rose Bruford College&nbsp;of Theatre and Performance&nbsp;</a>is a unique initiative within the UK to create a home for both academic research and practice/performance events based upon the work of Konstantin Stanislavski. The Centre, which is located within the college’s Learning Resources Centre, houses a core collection of books and other printed material (mostly in the Russian language), a photographic archive of more than 200 images and a small collection of material on video and DVD.</div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Michael Craig, &nbsp;Copernicus Films.</strong></em></div><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vakhtangov-Russian-Theatre-NTSC-version/dp/B00HUGNG58/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425639500&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=vakhtangov+and+the+Russian+Theatre" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="Vakhtangov 2" class="alignleft wp-image-664" src="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vakhtangov-2-210x300.jpg" height="229" style="background: transparent; border: none; display: inline; float: left; margin: 4px 24px 12px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="160" /></a><a href="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Michael Craig</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Copernicus Films</a>&nbsp;completed a film about Vakhtangov&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vakhtangov-Russian-Theatre-NTSC-version/dp/B00HUGNG58/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425639500&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=vakhtangov+and+the+Russian+Theatre" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">“Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre”</a>&nbsp;which was also premiered at the Vakhtangov Study day.&nbsp;Vakhtangov eventually became one of the foremost directors of the Russian theatre in the early twentieth century until his early death in 1922 at the age of 39. Talented and enigmatic, his great achievement was the the synthesis of Stanislavsky’s theories of acting and realism and Meyerhold’s studied theatrically. This film by Michael Craig is the third in the series about Russian theatre in the early 20th century. Click&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for more information about this film.</div></div></div></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-50662076186720720822014-12-10T08:43:00.000+02:002015-04-18T14:11:17.639+02:00Tokyo Journey - New film release<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><h2>The new film about Tokyo is finally released from Michael Craig and Copernicus Films:</h2><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="375" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YWFjdnYFuLc" width="520"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, ">&nbsp;A short film about Tokyo and its unseen character. I don’t really know how to explain but if you spend a long time in Tokyo you start to feel the hidden world which lies beneath the electric and neon façade. Traces of a dream world or forgotten world which belies the ultra modern appearance of Tokyo which seems to be a continuance of some other parallel world existing in the past but in some way eternal and forever present.Noh dramas give a whiff of this other world and how it can creep up on you. Usually the waki, an itinerant monk, old man or traveler meets a local person whom he questions them about the the history of the area As the conversation continues it and the waki draws out the shite’s story it gradually becomes clear that the shite is the ghost of a historical figure who is still clinging to this world either through desire for revenge or anger,or a desire for love. The ghost often asks the waki to pray for them to be released so they can be reborn in the Amida Buddha’s western paradise. The swirling neon dream world of Tokyo with its episodic visual context opposed to the spatial coordinates that we are normally used to in most cities, disrupt the senses which feast on the abundance of light which subvert structure and the visual plane. In fact such categories have no meeting in night time Tokyo.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The Cityscape of Tokyo is a text-scape a kind of anti landscape. The city, a symbol which stands for something but also has its own intrinsic meaning- an hieroglyph We live in the age of light and nowhere is light, luminosity, a feature of the urban landscape as it is in Tokyo – it flows around and through the city like a liquid radiance.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The Quintessential city of light its neon landscape casts a luminous dome across the night sky turning dark night into a phosphorescent panorama. This urban phenomena of the night is reminds us of the ancients of Japan who feared the darkness and longed for the dawn, for the comfort of clear light, for the sun goddess Amaterasu to remain.The film which is in post production will form a journey through the streets and known regions of Tokyo revealing anomalies which occur at boundaries which separate the apparent from the real and the interface between the sentient world and a hidden non sentient world. Its a phenomenon which occurs everywhere in Japanese literature. Murakami in Kafka on the Shore explains that the <a href="https://www.google.ru/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;sqi=2&amp;ved=0CBwQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_Tale_of_Genji&amp;ei=UOyHVLjGO6PXyQPDiIGIDw&amp;usg=AFQjCNEnsaFXervVvdfwNfFNeozvB0tfcw&amp;sig2=QzcVarhHOrxL13JIxNsTfw&amp;bvm=bv.81456516,d.ZWU" target="_blank">Tale of the Genji </a>is filled with living spirits which could sometimes travel through space often unbeknownst to themselves.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />&nbsp;The world of the grotesque is the darkness inside us, what could be called our subconscious which was obvious to people and gave a focus for their fears. Until the invention of electric light the world was in darkness, the physical darkness and the darkness of our souls were mixed together with no boundary between them. In their past living spirits of literature such asUeda Akinari who wrote <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugetsu_Monogatari" target="_blank">“Tales of Darkness and Moonlight”</a> living spirits were both a grotesque phenomenon and a natural condition of the human heart and people of that time were unable to conceive of these two things as being separate. However the darkness in the outside world has vanished but the darkness in our heart remains just as before. It remains sunken in our subconscious and as Murakami points out that estrangement can create a deep contradiction or confusion inside us</span></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-61021462781589816312014-06-21T13:13:00.000+03:002014-09-19T19:40:30.705+03:00Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre premiere at the Rose Bruford College<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h2 class="entry-title" style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/vakhtangov-and-the-russian-theatre-premiere-at-the-rose-bruford-college-post-prodcution-update-45/" rel="bookmark" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Permalink to Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre premiere at the Rose Bruford College – Post Prodcution update 45">Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre premiere at the Rose Bruford College – Post Prodcution update 45</a></h2><div class="entry-meta" style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); border: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="meta-prep meta-prep-author" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted on</span>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/vakhtangov-and-the-russian-theatre-premiere-at-the-rose-bruford-college-post-prodcution-update-45/" rel="bookmark" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #888888; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="12:22 pm"><span class="entry-date" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">June 16, 2014</span></a>&nbsp;<span class="meta-sep" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">by</span>&nbsp;<span class="author vcard" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="url fn n" href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/author/vakhtangov/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #888888; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="View all posts by vakhtangov">vakhtangov</a></span></div><div class="entry-content" style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #666666; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 12px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 4px 24px 20px 0px; max-width: 632px !important; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vakhtangov-Russian-Theatre-NTSC-version/dp/B00HUGNG58/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1402428690&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=vakhtangov" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" height="391" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_nlqHatVh_s/UuH9a20R4-I/AAAAAAAAI14/4CsN6Q-3-3s/w300-h429-no/Vakhtangov+2.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; margin: 5px 5px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="274" /></a><br /><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; margin: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cover of film “Vakhtangov &amp; the Russian Theatre”</div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Several days back from the UK after a successful screening and Premiere of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre.</a>&nbsp;It took place on May 10th 2014 as part of the Vakhtangov study day at the Rose Bruford college of theatre and performance organised by The Stanislavsky Centre which is based at the centre. It was a privilege to be able to participate in the and share the podium with the Vakhtangov scholar and specialist&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.ru/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0CB0QFjAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncf.edu%2Fandrei-malaev-babel&amp;ei=FN6WU8ytKMq9ygPDj4CwCQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNHfOiccNBRobpPPWPWZ6b7XwhmN5w&amp;sig2=Qo_DVQJyPedwDvGGfzSeIA&amp;bvm=bv.68693194,d.bGQ" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Andrei Malaev Babe</a>l who has written two books about Vakhtangov ‘<a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&amp;field-keywords=andrei%20malaev-babel&amp;sprefix=andrei+mal%2Caps%2C646&amp;rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aandrei%20malaev-babel" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">The Vakhtangov Sourcebook” and “Evgeny Vakhtangov – A Critical Portrait”</a>. Also&nbsp;<a href="http://http//www.michaelchekhovstudio.org.uk/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #743399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Graham Dixon of the Mikhail Chekhov Studio</a>&nbsp;in the morning session which he participated in together with Andrie Malaev Babel The morning session was dived into three parts. A long introduction presented jointly by Andrie and Graham, then the film Vakhtangov and the Russian Avant-garde which I briefly introduced and then a question and answer session with Andrie Malaev Babel, Graham Dixon and myself.</span></span></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; clear: both; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 632px !important; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img alt="" height="245" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-LHWyFplV18U/U5GIdnPF3bI/AAAAAAAAJKA/M8El4jj0QLA/w1081-h608-no/Still+for+article+4.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="435" /></span><br /><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #888888; font-size: 12px; margin: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Craig – Director of the film “Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre”</span></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The afternoon session was a master class presented by Andrei Malaev Babel which lasted a couple of hours and consisted of a series of intensive exercises and short pieces for actors. About sixteen members of the audience took part in this session and it gave a real insight into the practical &nbsp;insights and interpretations of Vakhtangov’s work. Natasha and myself filmed as much of the day as possible and I will try and put together &nbsp;a short clip to give a flavour of the day if all parities are agreeable. This was also a good opportunity to try out the new camera which I recently purchased and develop my DSLR skills a bit – gradually getting the hang of this new way of filming.</span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="color: #404040;" /></span></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 632px !important; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="281" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0d32828UsMs/U5GIe_YEMYI/AAAAAAAAJKI/vo4dLwmdxGY/w1081-h608-no/Still+for+article+5.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="500" /></span><br /><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #888888; margin: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Left to right; Graham Dixon, Andrei Malaev Babel, Michael Craig</span></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any premier is a worry and this was no exception. I have showed the film to &nbsp;many people but there is nothing more effective than showing a film to a live audience and probably nothing more gratifying when the response is positive as it was in this case. I was very pleased when people came up to me after the film to express their thoughts and feelings.I was also glad to see meet some new people who share an interest in Vakhtangov like Oleg Mirochnikov the Russian theatre director who now lives and works in London as far as I am aware. He has a special interest in Vakhtangov’s work in relation to his own productions, as part of Belka Productions.I was especially glad that the actor Andrew Elias was able to attend. He has been a great supporter of the film form its early inception and throughout post production to the very end and so it was apt that he was able to make the premiere. There wasn’t much time to get to know each other but I am sure we can rectify that in subsequent meetings when I am back in the UK and of course we will be in touch over the internet.</span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="287" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PSv0Gkc-89g/U5GIiOCH7aI/AAAAAAAAJKg/lLwgIb-IGDk/w1081-h608-no/Still+for+article+8.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; clear: both; display: block; margin: 0px auto 12px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="511" /></span></span></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 632px !important; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="281" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-dCsfGofh5vw/U5GIcxKoXgI/AAAAAAAAJJ8/iEhlBwm5H7U/w1081-h608-no/Still+for++article+2.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="499" /></span><br /><div style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #888888; margin: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul Fryer of The Stanislavski Centre</span></div></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 632px !important; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="271" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pTG60Glclec/U5GIc6JViXI/AAAAAAAAJJ0/dEV1QpfWWC4/w1081-h608-no/Still+for++article+3.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="482" /></span></span><br /><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #888888; margin: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Earley – Principal of the Rose Bruford College of Theatre &amp; Performance</span></div></div></div><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">- See more at: http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/#sthash.CYgXb3gO.dpuf</span></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-46721554237387530202014-01-24T08:51:00.000+03:002014-01-24T08:51:50.629+03:00 Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre - Post production update 42<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><!-- Place this tag in your head or just before your close body tag. --><script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script> <!-- Place this tag where you want the widget to render. --><div class="g-post" data-href="https://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010/posts/HJy6jg8UU32"></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-22465275532144323392014-01-14T18:18:00.000+03:002014-01-14T18:18:05.663+03:00Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre - Release announcement <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><!-- Place this tag in your head or just before your close body tag. --><script src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <!-- Place this tag where you want the widget to render. --><br /><div class="g-post" data-href="https://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010/posts/623aSFLZndJ"></div></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-53606550036495709762013-10-10T20:55:00.000+03:002013-10-31T09:06:14.235+03:00The Russian Film Archive at Krasnogorsk - Filming in Russia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: small;">One of the most sought after resources when filming in Russia is archive footage. <a href="http://www.michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank">Michael Craig</a> and <a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank">Copernicus Films</a> can guide you through the process of choosing archive material for your films or even choose and acquire the material on your behalf; dealing with the Russian archive authorities, negotiating payments and handling any documentation pertaining to copyright. At the archive You get to select the material yourself on a Moviola. The first time I tried it was a bit difficult having only used one before in St Petersburg but I soon got the hang of it again.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IR5aKF_9JEI/Ulbm4I2jNKI/AAAAAAAAH7Y/WKLO6lDj96o/s1600/Moviola_flatbed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IR5aKF_9JEI/Ulbm4I2jNKI/AAAAAAAAH7Y/WKLO6lDj96o/s320/Moviola_flatbed.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: small;">Russia has some of the most outstanding collections of film archive. The documentary film collection is housed at Krasnogorsk which is a small town just outside Moscow. I remember my first trip to Krasnogorsk where I was able to acquire archive footage for many of my films including Rodchenko and the Russian Avant-garde and Meyerhold Theatre and the Russian Theatre. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UkmhloiDp8M/UlbifrYxIEI/AAAAAAAAH7M/u-QAzH2tFKU/s1600/eisenstein2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UkmhloiDp8M/UlbifrYxIEI/AAAAAAAAH7M/u-QAzH2tFKU/s320/eisenstein2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: small;">Eisenstein </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: small;">The system is straight forward and everything is delivered on a format of your choosing. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: small;">Once you get the material up on the moviola and run it through its one of the most extraordinary feelings to see this material from maybe 80 years ago coming alive in front of your eyes. Films by Ziggy Vertov, "Man with Film Camera", Eisenstein, "Battleship Potemkin"&nbsp; and Esfir Shub who directed "The Fall of The Romanovs" in 1927. She was a pioneer in the genre of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compilation_footage" title="Compilation footage">compilation film</a>, in the use of historical footage, and in recreating historical scenes in order to shoot new footage.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: small;">Many of my film making friends in Russia who hail from the soviet time are forever extolling the virtues of film, they talk about the smell, the feel and the sheer tactile sensation of handling celluloid. Even though I have grown up using tape and and now digital, when you first open those cans and get to handle original material its a magnificent feeling and a powerful sensation of participating in a rich history.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: small;">For more information about the <a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/p/film-production-service-in-russia-if.html" target="_blank">film production services</a> that Copernicus Films can offer in Russia click <a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/p/film-production-service-in-russia-if.html" target="_blank">here</a></span><br /><br /><br /></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-62104922766199571292013-10-08T17:35:00.002+03:002013-10-09T21:17:30.620+03:00Filming in Russia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RMxJk6OmGIQ/UiWxMe6nKxI/AAAAAAAAHHM/JCoB0uojsnc/s1600/03.09.13+-+1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RMxJk6OmGIQ/UiWxMe6nKxI/AAAAAAAAHHM/JCoB0uojsnc/s320/03.09.13+-+1" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">With regard to filming in Russia, <a href="http://michaelcraig.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank">Michael Craig</a> first worked on a sprawling BBC drama in St Petersburg twenty years ago. We filmed everywhere from morgues, to hospitals to the main police headquarters and even the prison, as well as locations all over the city. With a crew and actors of 140 or so the main problem was finding enough food to feed them each day over a three month shooting schedule when food was not easily available in those days. No one could say it was easy but then this was the early 90s. The last day of shooting coincided with the storming of the White House in Moscow, so conditions were not ideal.&nbsp; However despite all the problems the film got made and was within budget. Things have changed a lot since then.</span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bGdg9s5GnbQ/UhdCj1TdJKI/AAAAAAAAG5k/SwJI5FSiPV0/s1600/Russian+Avant-garde+columnes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bGdg9s5GnbQ/UhdCj1TdJKI/AAAAAAAAG5k/SwJI5FSiPV0/s200/Russian+Avant-garde+columnes.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;">When Michael Craig first moved to Moscow and was invited to visit Mosfilm, the studio was in quite a dilapidated state and morale was very low. A year or so ago he was invited to the Mosfilm studio as part of a delegation of diplomats to view the studios with the aim of showcasing Mosfilm and its facilities. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Shakhnazarov" title="Karen Shakhnazarov">Karen Shakhnazarov</a>, the Russian director had been charged with the revamping and modernisation of the studios a few years previous. The transformation was astounding. The grounds had been neatly laid out, new buildings had appeared and old ones had been completely&nbsp; renovated and updated. The sound studios (the biggest in Europe) had been updated to the highest standards and a whole 19th century Russian town had been built as a set in the grounds of the Mosfilm complex. It displays a commitment to and understanding of what a foreign film company would require to make a film here in Russia.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As a director, Shakhnazarov set himself the task of outfitting Mosfilm with equipment and standards which he himself would want for any film he would make. With this in mind he went about the task of changing Mosfilm into a world class film making facility. The transformation of Mosfim is indicative of the new conditions which make it a great place to make films</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--e3TUSHK3sU/Ro9k2bvN4MI/AAAAAAAAAJM/j57LUbxbpnE/s1600/Srteets-Moscow1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--e3TUSHK3sU/Ro9k2bvN4MI/AAAAAAAAAJM/j57LUbxbpnE/s320/Srteets-Moscow1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Since that time Michael Craig has been involved in several large scale productions in Moscow as well working with numerous smaller companies and organisations in Moscow. Michael Craig founded <a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank">Copernicus Films</a> which has made eight documentary films independently in Moscow, an opera and interviews and journalistic projects.&nbsp; With the right guidance and support anybody can have a positive experience making films in Russia in a stable environment. Michael Craig and Copernicus Films's twenty years working here in Russia, making contacts and establishing a sound business base has given him the insights and experience to offer such a <a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/p/film-production-service-in-russia-if.html" target="_blank">service</a> and benefit those companies or individuals wanting to come here and shoot a film project. No project is too large or too small for us and advice can be tailored to individual projects as required.</span></span></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-55759151097654071122013-10-01T11:01:00.000+03:002013-10-01T11:01:55.484+03:00Alexander Rodchenko: Revolution in Photography<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h3><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Alexander Rodchenko: Revolution in Photography</span></span></h3><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><h5><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">5 Oct. 2013 – 12 Jan. 2014</span></span></h5><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><h4 class="highlight"><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kjarvalsstaðir</span></span></h4><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> In October a retrospective of the&nbsp;photographs of Alexander Rodchenko, one of the leading&nbsp; Russian artists of the first half of the 20th century, will open at the <a href="http://www.artmuseum.is/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-2182/3369_read-1909/date-1754/" target="_blank">Reykjavík Art Museum’s Kjarvalsstaðir site.</a></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Born in St. Petersburg in 1891, Rodchenko worked in Moscow as an artist and designer from 1915. He used many different media in his art: he started out as a painter and sculptor, then moved into photography in 1925.&nbsp; He was a pioneer in photography and graphic design, designing for instance book covers, posters and advertisements in collaboration with Varvara Stepanova, his wife and closest colleague. The posters are among Rodchenko's best-known works, and remain inspiring nearly a century on.More information about the film Alexander Rodchenko and the Russian Theatre can be found <a href="http://www.russianavantgarde.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank">here</a> </span></span></div> <!-- Place this tag in your head or just before your close body tag. --><script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script> <!-- Place this tag where you want the widget to render. --><div class="g-post" data-href="https://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010/posts/YTaeEmcMgR9"></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-26707107539038081972013-09-28T12:13:00.000+03:002013-10-08T16:38:11.262+03:00Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank"><b>Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre</b></a> -&nbsp; Post Production Diary update 31 – <b>FILM LAUNCHING SOON</b> <br /><br /><a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3We0eG08O64/Ukackxz4WQI/AAAAAAAAHsU/lS6AvSOsX_Y/s1600/erik+55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3We0eG08O64/Ukackxz4WQI/AAAAAAAAHsU/lS6AvSOsX_Y/s320/erik+55.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: large;">Just some final details to clear up but we are looking at a launch for the film </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank"><b>Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre</b></a>&nbsp; in late October 2013. Slightly later than I expected but there have been many unforeseen obstacles to getting the finished film completed. One of the main obstacles was making sure that it was as good as I could get it with the resources available.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: large;">The process now involves gradually narrowing down any last minute problems or technical glitches as well as finalising the distribution strategy which I have been preparing for several months. This plan is nearly complete and will form part of the launch including press releases and an e-mail campaign to interested companies and individuals.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: large;"><span class="proflinkWrapper"><span class="proflinkPrefix">+</span><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/115177330165151168089">Michael Craig and Copernicus Films</a></span> All previous update can be found on <a class="ot-anchor" href="http://vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/" rel="nofollow">vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com</a> <span class="proflinkWrapper"><span class="proflinkPrefix">+</span><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/111991575259624292547">Rose Bruford College</a></span> <span class="proflinkWrapper"><span class="proflinkPrefix">+</span><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/109461086007999243329">Theatre Futures</a></span> <a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/">Copernicus Films</a></span></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-86031764547399644602013-09-21T12:16:00.003+03:002013-09-26T16:59:09.798+03:00Teaser for Short film made in Tokyo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Georgia,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; font-size: large;">This film is in the editing stages - Release date to be announced. </span><br /><br /><!-- Place this tag in your head or just before your close body tag. --><script src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <!-- Place this tag where you want the widget to render. --><br /><div class="g-post" data-href="https://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010/posts/5VvDHmAgTn3"></div></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-41069504961228007572013-09-21T10:01:00.001+03:002013-09-21T10:06:01.202+03:00The Russian Avant-garde Film Series - Slide Show<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><iframe src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dHhFBURTEwFDAgUk2Mk0fpWn4qiJduRqWA-1vlg0-8I/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" frameborder="0" width="480" height="389" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true"></iframe>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-55742473777442413732013-09-11T21:33:00.000+03:002013-09-11T21:41:55.813+03:00Vakhtangov and the Russian theatre - update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!-- Place this tag in your head or just before your close body tag. --><script src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <!-- Place this tag where you want the widget to render. --><br /><div class="g-post" data-href="https://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010/posts/FB7HHB9gm4a"></div></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-56250005055701998472013-08-23T14:09:00.000+03:002013-08-23T14:13:55.793+03:00The Russian Avant-garde – Renaissance or revolution - Book of the film series<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bGdg9s5GnbQ/UhdCj1TdJKI/AAAAAAAAG5g/8IL5evj3ujg/s1600/Russian+Avant-garde+columnes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bGdg9s5GnbQ/UhdCj1TdJKI/AAAAAAAAG5g/8IL5evj3ujg/s1600/Russian+Avant-garde+columnes.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;">Book of the film series – More about the book I am writing in conjunction with the Russian Avant-garde film series. The series of six arts documentary films is already complete and has been for some time. They consist of:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i29tL-LHyY8" target="_blank">Alexander Rodchenko and the Russian Avant-garde</a>&nbsp;</span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P18XmwRKgM" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Architecture and the Russian Avant-garde</span></a><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nju_ZQa23jU" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;Mayakovsky</span></a><br /><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZaDZijIo5I" target="_blank">Meyerhold Theatre and the Russian Avant-garde</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDmKO8Wb7M8" target="_blank">Kandinsky and the Russian House</a>&nbsp;</span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_48m_Kk_YY" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">David Burliuk and the Japanese Avant-garde</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;I have always wanted to write a book based on the material in the 6 films but also including additional material which I have collected over the years as well as much material which could not be included in the films themselves. I have now started the book and I am well into writing and collating material. The point of the book will be to expand the subjects outwards and in depth both visually and textually. Plus I will add material like interview transcripts and new articles. As yet there is no dedicated site for the book but that may change in the future. For the time being I will make post here or on <a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/">copernicusfilms.com</a>+Michael Craig and Copernicus Films </span></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-41091142894147955172011-11-30T19:44:00.001+03:002013-09-27T21:42:52.089+03:00J-FEST Moscow 2011. Festival of Contemporary Japanese Culture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="posterous_autopost"><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; margin-bottom: 1.7em;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; line-height: 1.7;"><a href="http://www.j-fest.org/program.html" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="J FEST Moscow 2011">J-FEST</a>&nbsp;was a festival of Contemporary &nbsp;Japanese culture held in Moscow at the Central House of Artists. It was designed to showcase or present Japanese culture with an&nbsp;emphasis&nbsp;on youth and young people with the accent on phenomena like&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="Manga comics">manga</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="Anime">anime</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosplay" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="Cosplay">cosplay</a>&nbsp;etc. The event was held in the House of Artists in the centre of Moscow. I wanted to the film the event partly out of curiosity and partly to collect&nbsp;material&nbsp;for the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.japanphilosophicallandscapes.com/" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="Web Documentary series - Japan-Philosophical Landscapes">Japan-Philosophical Landscapes</a>&nbsp;project and&nbsp;maybe get an interview or two with some of the main participants and speakers at&nbsp;the event. We arrived an hour or two after the event had started and I was&nbsp;surprised&nbsp;by how many people had turned up.&nbsp;Several hundred people were milling around the foyer and in the various exhibition points where events were being held.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; margin-bottom: 1.7em;"></div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; line-height: 1.7;">A fashion show was just ending in the DNK hall with fashions from the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=harajuku&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CDEQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FHarajuku&amp;ei=l4fQTqTpAsqG4gTCrtGvAQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNGsZLvwk-643Be4kOi7VePfWIgyEw&amp;sig2=ji_HAekqaY8fxsT9FrnWbg" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="Harajuku">Harajuku</a>&nbsp;area of Tokyo. Outside in the foyer young Russians dressed in various costumes of manga and anime style were thronging around the two floors where the event was taking place. On one side of the foyer a whole wall had been given over to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kyoto-seika.ac.jp/eng/" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="Kyoto Seiko University">Kyoto&nbsp;Seiko Universtity</a>&nbsp; with a video instalation dedicated on the theme of the recent earthquake and a mural being painted by students from the university.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; line-height: 1.7;">The costumes were various but mostly on the themes of maids, cosplay, anime and manga with a strong influence of gothic but generally recognisable as derived from the &nbsp;street fashions of Harajuku.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; line-height: 1.7;">At the press conference the panel consisted of the architect Takayuki Suzuki and<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=may%20j&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CC4QFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMay_J.&amp;ei=nD_TTp-cOOWg4gS5s5zDCw&amp;usg=AFQjCNFfVpewhKfru6trOLpbem1kHK0FIQ&amp;sig2=_fL7M2rgxNBYxyYf4AJX_Q" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="May J">&nbsp;May J</a>&nbsp;the singer who heads the show&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-Melo" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="J-Melo">J-Melo</a>&nbsp;on NHK .&nbsp;J-Melo is a cult musical TV show Japanese TV channel NHK. It is broadcast in 180 countries and regions, and finally made ​​it to Moscow. &nbsp;May J. &nbsp;is of Japanese, Iranian, Turkish, Russian, Spanish and English extraction.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; line-height: 1.7;">It was strange to see these symbols and emblems of Japanese culture being played out in Moscow but one way of understanding this&nbsp;phenomena&nbsp;is with&nbsp;reference&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2010/takamasa-sakurai-focus-panel" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank">Takamasa Sakurai&nbsp;</a>was also on the panal. A journalist and a media content producer - he is convinced that the world will certainly have a&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuteness_in_Japanese_culture" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="Kawaii">"kawaii revolution."</a>&nbsp;He is convinced that due to the popularity of their pop culture, Japan could become a diplomatic mediator between different countries. In recent years, Sakurai-san has been an active lecturer in various countries.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; line-height: 1.7;"><div style="line-height: 1.7;"><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">The next day of the festival I managed to secure an interview with&nbsp;<a href="http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~sdn/English/contents.htm" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank">Takayuki Suzuki</a></div><div style="line-height: 1.7;">Suzuki-sensei is trying to reconcile &nbsp;modern building and new forms of the 21st century with traditional Japanese ideas of beauty. Thus, in their<a href="http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~sdn/English/Architecture/seika.htm" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="Seiko University Building">&nbsp;university</a>building, &nbsp;which he designed, &nbsp;he tried to include as much as possible, "the sky" which "need students to dream."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In his lecture he spoke &nbsp;about contemporary Japanese landscapes from the perspective of Japanese culture.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Takayuki Suzuki: "Situated in the Far East, modern Japan is one of the centers of world culture and therefore for understanding the future we need to talk about the features of Japanese culture, characteristic of the Japanese urban landscape and everyday life of Japanese youth".</div><div style="line-height: 1.7;">After his interview I am hoping to use some of the material for the project<a href="http://www.japanphilosophicallandscapes.com/" style="color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="Web documentary series Japan Philosophical Landscapes">&nbsp;Japan Philosophical Landscapes</a>. His work and ideas may form the nexus&nbsp;between&nbsp;traditional and contemporary understandings of landscape and pinch&nbsp;&nbsp;together these two major themes in the film.</div></div></div><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ytNjYiNR_XE" width="480"></iframe></div></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-51056233248889481922011-11-02T16:44:00.001+03:002011-11-02T16:44:16.759+03:00Japan-Philosophical Landscapes "Gingaku ji-Landscapes and Sandscapes"<div class='posterous_autopost'><p> <p style="font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; color: #444444; line-height: 1.7; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">This section of the film&nbsp;focuses&nbsp;on the Silver Pavilion&nbsp;of Ginkaku ji. It suits my purposes over the more popular&nbsp;Golden&nbsp;Pavilion&nbsp;in Kyoto as it describes more directly the&nbsp;phenomenon&nbsp;of Philosophical landscapes. Most people are&nbsp;concerned&nbsp;with the Golden pavilion because of its obvious beauty, a striking golden temple set in the middle of a pond, its still golden reflection a mirrored upturned version of itself creating an&nbsp;uncanny&nbsp;sensation of a floating vision in mid air.&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; color: #444444; line-height: 1.7; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">However in some ways the Silver Pavilion, Ginkaku ji, &nbsp;is no less beautiful despite its subdued &nbsp;presence if compared to the Golden Pavilion. The addition of moss covered grounds and what I would call "sandscapes" - abstract&nbsp;images&nbsp;made with sand and grit give it a&nbsp;unique&nbsp;quality as a&nbsp;Zen&nbsp;temple. They do not represent the&nbsp;landscape&nbsp;or depict a particular landscape but communicate an essence or idea. The cone of sand in the garden resembles Mount Fuji however this is but a surface&nbsp;interpretation. &nbsp;A mountain is seemingly a solid thing&nbsp;ostensibly&nbsp;made of hard rock. However mountains can fall or increase in size with volcanic eruptions. A&nbsp;miniature&nbsp;mountain of sand &nbsp;conveys this state of flux or indeterminateness of things and life which&nbsp;Zen&nbsp;Buddhism&nbsp;teaches. The volume of sand shaped into a cone is held in a state of static but fluid tension which can change with a gust of wind or a heavy downpour of rain and then reconstituted anew.&nbsp;Similarly&nbsp;sand as waves convey the&nbsp;inter penetrability&nbsp;of things. This constant blurring of borders between materials conveys the solid but non materiality of an idea given expression in three dimensional space. The essence of&nbsp;Zen Buddhism.</p> </p> <div> <p style="font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; color: #444444; line-height: 1.7; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">This section of the film&nbsp;focuses&nbsp;on the Silver Pavilion&nbsp;of Ginkaku ji. It suits my purposes over the more popular&nbsp;Golden&nbsp;Pavilion&nbsp;in Kyoto as it describes more directly the&nbsp;phenomenon&nbsp;of Philosophical landscapes. Most people are&nbsp;concerned&nbsp;with the Golden pavilion because of its obvious beauty, a striking golden temple set in the middle of a pond, its still golden reflection a mirrored upturned version of itself creating&nbsp;an&nbsp;uncanny&nbsp;sensation of a floating vision in mid air.</p> <p style="font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; color: #444444; line-height: 1.7; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">&nbsp;However in some ways the Silver Pavilion, Ginkaku ji, &nbsp;is no less beautiful despite its subdued &nbsp;presence if compared to the Golden Pavilion. The addition of moss covered grounds and what I would call "sandscapes" - abstract&nbsp;images&nbsp;made with sand and grit give it a&nbsp;unique&nbsp;quality as a&nbsp;Zen&nbsp;temple. They do not represent the&nbsp;landscape&nbsp;or depict a particular landscape but communicate an essence or idea. The cone of sand in the garden resembles Mount Fuji however this is but a surface&nbsp;interpretation. &nbsp;A mountain is seemingly a solid thing&nbsp;ostensibly&nbsp;made of hard rock. However mountains can fall or increase in size with volcanic eruptions. A&nbsp;miniature&nbsp;mountain of sand &nbsp;conveys this state of flux or indeterminateness of things and life which&nbsp;Zen&nbsp;Buddhism&nbsp;teaches. The volume of sand shaped into a cone is held in a state of static but fluid tension which can change with a gust of wind or a heavy downpour of rain and then reconstituted anew.&nbsp;Similarly&nbsp;sand as waves covey the&nbsp;inter penetrability&nbsp;of things. This constant blurring of borders between materials shows the solid but non materiality of an idea given expression in three dimensional space. The essence of&nbsp;Zen Buddhism.</p> </div> <p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VYv0nQyBuBU" frameborder="0" height="300" width="460"></iframe></p></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-51217761669485320432011-10-16T18:42:00.001+03:002011-10-16T18:42:03.797+03:00Japan - Philosophical Landscapes - First part released<div class='posterous_autopost'> <p style="font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; color: #444444; line-height: 1.7; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">The last few days have been a process of clearing away old&nbsp;obstacles&nbsp;and barriers in order to proceed with a several new projects. A few years ago we spent a fair amount of time in Japan shooting material for a couple of films which I have been working on and editing. The work on this project was&nbsp;interrupted&nbsp;by the Stanislavsky film "Stanislavsky and the Russian Theatre" which is now complete. After&nbsp;revisiting&nbsp;the&nbsp;Japanese&nbsp;project it is&nbsp;re-emerging&nbsp;as web documentary called "Japan - Philosophical Landscapes". More information about it can be found here. Also the first part has been uploaded to the internet (see below).</p> <p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MPFNtnk1Da0" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe></p> <p style="font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; color: #444444; line-height: 1.7; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; color: #444444; line-height: 1.7; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">At the same time a new site is being constructed to&nbsp;accommodate&nbsp;the Fairground Booth Project and discussions are taking place as to how best proceed in organising the logistics of the film and its&nbsp;corresponding documentary projects "Carnival and the Russian Theatre" and "Vahktangov and the Russian Theatre". Once the site is up and running details will be released.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-89153263053171012162011-10-14T18:41:00.001+03:002013-09-28T16:33:06.003+03:00New web documentary – “Japan- Philosophical Landscapes” almost ready for release<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="posterous_autopost"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Bitstream Charter, Times, serif; line-height: 19px;"> </span><br /><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; margin-bottom: 1.7em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Bitstream Charter, Times, serif; line-height: 19px;">Some exciting work getting done at the moment. Working on the setting up of two web sites. One for &nbsp;a web documentary about&nbsp;Japanese&nbsp;art and culture called simply&nbsp;<a href="http://www.japanphilosophicallandscapes.com/" style="color: #0060ff; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; line-height: 1.7;" target="_blank" title="Japan - Philosophical Landscapes">"Japan - Philosophical Landscapes"</a>. The site is still in the process of construction so it is not fully operational as yet with some modules and elements hidden. &nbsp;It is a project which I have been working on and off for about two years ever&nbsp;since&nbsp;we&nbsp;returned&nbsp;from filming in Japan a second time over a three month period. At last it is taking some&nbsp;shape&nbsp;and I am&nbsp;ready&nbsp;to start releasing it in&nbsp;instalments&nbsp;on the web and have set up a new web site specifically for this purpose.</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Bitstream Charter, Times, serif; line-height: 19px;"> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">That is not to say that I have neglected the Russian Theatre project centred around Blok's play&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thefairgroundbooth.com/" target="_blank">The Fairground Booth</a>&nbsp;and the two documentary films "<a href="http://www.vakhtangov.copernicusfilms.com/" target="_blank">Vakhatangov and the Russian Theatre</a>" and "Carnival and the Russian Theatre". I am in the process of building a website which will become the focus of this project with information, blogs and articles to chart it's progress.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">More news as things develop.</div></span></div></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-45781234318703364672011-09-26T17:51:00.001+03:002011-09-26T17:51:25.884+03:00New Copernicus Films storefront for purchase of DVDs in UK<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">Have been updating the web site to include a store front which specifically gives the&nbsp;opportunity&nbsp;for those in the UK who are&nbsp;interested&nbsp;in buying Copernicus Films DVDs the opportunity to do so. Previously it was necessary to buy the disc on Amazon.com in the USA and pay for shipping to the UK. People have been&nbsp;approaching&nbsp;me on&nbsp;social&nbsp;websites and by e-mail wanting to purchase the discs in the UK. &nbsp;Now there is a facility to purchase disc in the UK with free shipping. Check&nbsp;<a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/?page_id=342" title="Purcahse DVDs in the UK" target="_blank" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #0060ff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">here</a>&nbsp;for more information. Alternatively click on the tab above PURCHASE DVDs ON LINE and in the sub menu click &ldquo;Purchase DVDs in the UK&rdquo;</span></p></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8630506552996887183.post-4637005851864570542011-09-21T20:07:00.001+03:002011-09-21T20:07:19.212+03:00Process" in Film making in relation to "The Fairground Booth<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-09-21/oaJmciqirFndFgifizCrdApwsbJFkhFjJcptlupiuwiklxvpimwIpJGmqvHC/2303916800.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="2303916800" height="281" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-09-21/oaJmciqirFndFgifizCrdApwsbJFkhFjJcptlupiuwiklxvpimwIpJGmqvHC/2303916800.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> Making my way around Moscow to meetings and checking out various possibilities,&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">cameras&nbsp;etc,&nbsp;for the films. The last few days have been a&nbsp;question&nbsp;of working out a tone and style for the film adaptation of The Fairground Booth. The accompanying documentaries in the project "Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre" and "Carnival in Russian Theatre" are relatively&nbsp;straight&nbsp;forward with the stress on relatively. However a film adaptation&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">of&nbsp;Blok's&nbsp;play is distinctly problematic. Firstly, there are many stereotypical takes on the main&nbsp;characters&nbsp;-Pierrot, Columbine and&nbsp;Harlequin which I want to avoid. I aim to find a particular tone and style for the production and this will effect the overall design for the play,&nbsp;costumes&nbsp;set and general look. This will take time so the best thing is to continue with the shooting script and background research to all the three films. This will provide the necessary depth once some of the other questions begin to get solved. Its a similar situation I faced in the film "Alexander Rodchenko and the Russian Avant-garde". It was the first film I&nbsp;made&nbsp;in Moscow and required scenes showing Rodchenko at work at his desk and other scenes of Rodchenko. For an extended account about the making of this film click&nbsp;<a href="http://www.copernicusfilms.com/?p=101" title="&quot;Rodchenko and the Russian Avant-garde&quot;" target="_blank" style="font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; color: #0060ff; line-height: 1.7;">here</a>.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">In this film I needed to&nbsp;solve&nbsp;two basic problems. The style in which I would shoot and casting the role of Rodchenko. It took a long time and followed a specific process of finding the right person for the role. A similar process is emerging once again whereby there are a lot of questions and and you have to wait for some of the answers.</span></p></div>Michael Craighttps://plus.google.com/101465442676994301010noreply@blogger.com0